Casting light on problem wins top award for Nick

FAMILY PRIDE: Overall winner Nick Fewtrell (Innoluminate, Kerikeri High) with his parents Chris and Debbie, and 9-year-old twin brothers Jacob and Thomas.

Northland's top student businessman for 2013 is Kerikeri High student Nick Fewtrell, who has devised an energy-saving way of helping people find light switches in the dark.

The 17-year-old sole trader's business, Innoluminate, was named the Northland Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) Company of the Year in an awards night at the Copthorne in Waitangi on Thursday.

He was also named young managing director of the year and won the prize for excellence in financial management.

Nick's product, Glow-Switch, is a photo-luminescent vinyl adhesive designed to stick on to light switches.

It absorbs light during the day and glows at night, avoiding the need for energy-consuming night lights, and is already in use at a Far North eco-lodge. Nick will represent the region at the national finals in Wellington on December 11.

It was a good night for Northland, with two other teams told they would be heading to Wellington after winning national YES awards.

They are Distinctiv Records, which produced a compilation CD of original songs by students at Kerikeri High School, and the Cashew Company, a Springbank School company which makes cashew paste from nuts imported from a mission in Mozambique. Only 12 such awards have been handed out nationally.

Nick said he was "absolutely stoked" to win and would be proud to represent Northland.

Overcoming the hardships he had encountered would help him in other aspects of his life and made other challenges - such as NCEA exams - seem easy.

The other top prize in the Top Energy-sponsored scheme was #InstaHealth, of Kaitaia's Abundant Life School, which won the award for best Maori business.

The company produces healthy meals using Maori business concepts.

Team member Brenda Dos Santos, who is of Maori and Brazilian descent, said the win made her team even more determined to help their community by promoting wairua kai (soul food) and healthy eating.

"We're proud to win the Maori award. It's cool to be recognised," she said.

The Cashew Company's Nikki Chapman won a seven-day R Tucker Thompson voyage for overcoming the greatest challenges. Nick Fewtrell's prizes include a $1000 scholarship if he chooses to study business, communications or accounting at Massey University.

CATEGORY AWARDS
* NorthTec Award for Excellence in Business Management: L'amal and the Cashew Company (both Springbank School)
* Northern Advocate Award for Excellence in Communications: Distinctiv Records (Kerikeri High)
* Northpower Award for Excellence in Technology: Phantom (Kamo High)
Gilmore Brown Award for Excellence in Financial Management: Innoluminate (Kerikeri High)
* Dave Templeton Award for Commitment: Slyd'In Holder (Tikipunga High)

TOP AWARDS
* Manaaki Solutions Award for Best Maori Business: #InstaHealth (Abundant Life School, Kaitaia)
* BDO Award for Young Managing Director of the Year: Nick Fewtrell (Kerikeri High)
* Top Energy Award for Northland YES Company of the Year: 1 Innoluminate (Kerikeri High); 2 The Cashew Company (Springbank School); 3 L'amal (Springbank School)